The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

 

A farming family struggles as the Dust Bowl and the banks put them out of business.  

John Steinbeck creates believable characters with whom we can empathise. He gives us a good sense of time and place. He presents the struggles of the times that in many ways still exist today. As the Joad family move to California they encounter all of the prejudice and fear that migrants face today. These working people struggle to make a living, always with hope but rarely with success. There is a little state aid: special camp sites, help with funeral costs and something almost like our modern day foodbanks. Further drama is added as Tom becomes a man on the run; he has served a jail sentence for man slaughter. As he is out of state he has not met the conditions of his parole – and then he kills again.

A long text, but John Steinbeck keeps the reader engaged in this classic novel, The Grapes of Wrath.           

Still Alice by Lisa Genova.

 

This month I’m recommending Still Alice by Lisa Genova.   

Alice has early onset Alzheimer’s.

We watch her life deteriorate.  It starts with her not recognising a name on a to do list.  Then she forgets to go to a conference.  One day whilst out running she cannot figure out where she is. We follow her downward spiral. It’s terrifying. Do we recognise the symptoms? Unusually we are seeing the point of view of the sufferer rather than that of the carers.    

Lisa Genova has completed an impressive amount of research here.  In some ways this makes the text if anything reassuring about Alzheimer’s.

I confess to not having seen the film but I’ve come across good reviews of it.  

I really was totally absorbed in the book. Lisa Genova’s thorough examination of what an Alzehimer sufferer may go though is very convincing.      

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

 

Sara Nisha Adams does indeed recommend to us a reading list through a character that died before the story began.

And on that reading list are books we all ought to read.  I’m pleased to say that I have read all but two of them and those two are now on my list of books to be read.

We get to know Mukesh Patel and local librarian, Aleisha, really well. Both of them have some sadness in their lives. The reading list brings comfort to them as it also does to some other minor characters.       

The mystery of where the list came from keeps us intrigued.

Adams’ The Reading List is sure to enchant you if you enjoy reading – which you probably do if you are reading this!

This year it Will be Different by Maeve Binchy

 

This is a superb collection of short stories, all set around Christmas time.

I first came across Maeve Binchy when I bought a very tatty copy of her Light a Penny Candle from a second-hand bookshop in Spain. It made a good holiday read.  Thereafter, I’ve been willing to buy her books in hardback as soon as they come out.

As I read this time I tried to work out why her writing is so effective. Her characters are very believable.  She gives us a strong sense of time and place. The stories are plausible and help us to make sense of life.

This Year It Will Be Different is an engaging collection of stories which can be read at any time, not just at Christmas.    

  

 

Igloo by Jennifer Burkinshaw

This is a gentle romance at the same time as being a gentle coming of age story.

Niv does not like skiing nor does she want to go to university. Her passion is for working with wood.  Then along comes Jean-Louis with his one set of problems mainly to do with his dysfunctional mother. Can Niv survive her poor GCSE results? Can her relationship with Jean-Louis continue? Will she regain her mother’s trust and affection? All of this set against a backdrop of snow, mountains and two igloos.

There is pace and tension a plenty in Jennifer Burkinshaw’s Igloo.